Will hopped off the subway with Nico close behind him, and they walked back to Nico's house, Nico leading the way at a sprightly pace.
The afternoon sun was shining brightly, and the rays made Will's golden locks and perfectly tanned skin gleam. He could easily be a model or a famous Hollywood actor. It was a shame he wanted to go into medicine, where he would be the subject of adoration for many a nurse—and probably a lot of doctors too —in the ward.
The two of them looked like a pair of mismatched socks as they walked down the sidewalk.
Will, the poster child of "tall, tan, blonde, and handsome", was dressed in a neon orange shirt and khakis, shone and smiled with a bounce in his step as he chased after the boy in front of him.
Nico was the exact opposite, with dark, unruly hair framing his pale complexion, his hair just barely long enough to brush against the shoulder seam of his black Ramones t-shirt. Even when speed-walking in a hurry, the smaller boy could still be found slouching and grimacing against the bright sunlight as he trudged along in his black skinny jeans.
To any passerby, it looked as if the sun was trying to chase its own shadow.
Soon enough, they ended up back at Nico's house, both slightly huffing and puffing, out of breath from the rapid pace that Nico had set. Nico opened the front door, checking to see if Cerbie was still put away in his room before he turned to motion for Will to come in as well.
As Will took off his shoes, Nico found himself glancing up at the balcony. To his surprise, his dad was standing there, nursing a glass of red wine, all while looking down at Nico and Will. A moment passed as the father and son's gazes met, before Hades walked back into his room, an unreadable expression on his face, as per the usual.
Nico narrowed his eyes at his dad's figure, disappearing into the room, but was hardly going to bother asking what that was all about.
Nico and Will walked back to the living room through the winding hallways. Once they got back to their project setup, Nico flopped down on the couch they were on earlier, cross-legged, and Will laid down on the one adjacent, head facing towards Nico.
"Well," Nico said, getting down to business, "We've done the prework required by Mr. B for the project, gone over the rubric, and finished the question packet he assigned."
"All that's left is picking out a song, arranging it, and then deciding how we're performing, right?" Will asked, turning his head to face Nico as the blonde continued to lay on the couch.
"Yeah," Nico affirmed. "But do we have any idea what we want to do for the song?"
Will pursed his lips, gaze flicking across the ceiling as he thought. "Well, I can't carry a tune, so if we were to do an actual song, you'd have to sing. I can, however, play a few chords on the guitar, so I'd be able to accompany you."
Nico pouted. "What about Charon?"
Will furrowed his brow. "Who's Charon?"
Nico unclipped and opened his instrument case to pull out his clarinet, holding it up for Will to see.
"This is Charon. He's my clarinet." Nico deadpanned, holding the bell end of the clarinet out to Will.
Will stared blankly at Nico before breaking out into a smile, grabbing the bell end of the clarinet, and pumped his arm up and down lightly, as if shaking hands with a person.
"Nice to meet you, Charon," Will said with a lopsided grin on his face. "Unfortunately, I don't think your qualities fit those of the candidates we're looking for to fill this position. Sadly, most contemporary pieces don't particularly have arrangements for clarinets. Thank you for applying, and we hope to hear from you for possible future positions in this field."
Nico pouted dramatically, pulling Charon back from Will, before holding the clarinet close to his chest and saying, "It's okay, Charon. Obviously the asshole didn't have any sense of artistic taste if he couldn't even recognize your talent."
Will tried to hold back a guffaw as he watched Nico slide his clarinet carefully back into its case.
"Honestly," Nico continued, encouraged by Will's reaction. "Who gave him the credentials to reject you? You're better than this job, they wouldn't have deserved you anyway."
Nico closed the case and looked back at Will, the two boys bursting into laughter the second their eyes met. The sound of laughter echoed through the room for a few moments before Nico interjected.
"Okay, point taken." Nico held back a giggle, trying to get back to work. "So I'll sing, and you'll accompany me on your guitar?"
Will nodded. "So... What should we do for the actual performance? Should we perform live? I think that would be fun! Then the entire class gets to see you sing!" Will beamed.
Nico glared at Will and rolled his eyes.
"I'm not singing unless I know what I'm singing first. I don't want to end up singing some old country song. And I'm definitely not going to sing in front of everyone."
What if they laugh? What if I mess up? What if I suddenly have a voice crack? It's just a project... But people will think I can't sing... It would be so embarrassing!
Many thoughts ran through Nico's head as his eyes watered with embarrassment at the mere thought of having to perform live. He was definitely not going to sing in front of the class.
"Well, we could...write a piece of music-"
Nico shook the thoughts away with a flick of his head, looking back at Will to ground himself. Focus.
"Nope. I can't compose for shit, and seeing as you're tone-deaf, this is probably not a good idea. Next?"
"Um... Ooh! We could cover something! And make a music video, so you'll get to learn the song before you sing it, and you won't have to do it live!" Will looked at Nico full of hope.
"Hm..." Nico paused, considering the situation. Between this and performing live, the choice was clear. "That doesn't sound too bad... or mortifying. Why don't we do that?"
"Yeah!"
Will started jotting down their plan in his notebook, the sound of graphite on paper the only audible thing in the room. Soon, Will put down his pencil, and it was quiet. A bit too quiet. Nico was really uncomfortable, even though he was in his own home.
Itching to break the silence, suddenly, Nico blurted out, "Why are you so... sunny all the time?"
Will rolled over on the couch and looked at him. "What? What do you mean?"
Nico felt his face flush, running his hands through his hair in hopes it would cover his obviously embarrassed expression.
"Well, you're always happy all the time, smiling and laughing, and sometimes it feels like you're…" Nico fumbled for his words, finally coming up with, "like you're a mini-sun, spreading happiness and rainbows everywhere…" Nico bent his head down, covering his face with his hair to try to hide his embarrassment. "Why?"
Will sat up and stared at the glossy obsidian wall of the living room.
"I don't know... I'm not… always like that inside. I guess it's kind of like... I don't want anyone to be sad or angry just because I am."
Nico looked at the blonde, curly mop of hair just a few feet away from him, and remembered how it glinted with the afternoon sunlight.
"Well, even just your hair is brighter than my entire future," Nico said, chuckling. Will smiled awkwardly, unsure how to respond.
Both boys fell silent. A few uncomfortable minutes passed as they both racked their brains for something to say.
"So... What song do you want to do?" Will said, trying to promote conversation.
Nico shrugged, blinking a couple of times and then propping his head upon the armrest with his hand.
"I have no idea," Nico said mid-yawn, stretching out his arms, and then lay his head down in his arms.
"You know, I'm still tired from you waking me up at the butt crack of dawn. I'm going to close my eyes for a bit. See if you can think of anything you'd want to try for our project."
Will shrugged and chuckled, "Sure, no problem. Good night!"
As Nico started to close his eyes, he heard Will (very poorly!) humming a familiar tune. It made him think of the happy days, before tragedy struck his family, before his world had been turned into a living hell. It reminded him of his mother's cooking, his sister's laugh, his father's smile. Nico was struck with a pang of sadness as he drifted off.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away..."
And Nico fell asleep.
